I got a Ficus from my Mom about 3 years ago.. I had some problems in the beginning due to my over watering, which I corrected and it survived... I leave it out in the summer in a semi-shady spot, not too much direct sun, it likes it.. I recently re-potted it and when I did I noticed ants had taken up residence in the plant.. So I tried to get as much out as possible and it's been outside ever since.. I don't really know how to prune it to make it fuller? Do they even get pruned? If anyone has any info on them please let me know... thanks... it is doing OK but not the greatest... a little challenging this plant has been.
cindjo717. Ficus can be tempermental, almost snotty at times :'( I keep my ficus pruned back to a manageable size by clipping the stems back if they look a little out of bounds, like some stems/leaves being longer then others. You can clip them just above a leaf node, or just above a few leaves back up the stems. I'll stand back and look at the shape as I'm cutting until it all looks right. The only thing about having them outside and bringing them back in for winter is you will probably see lots of leaf loss. Ficus are sensitive to light change, so I keep mine indoors in the same spot. The leaves become a little larger and thicker outside and can't maintain those same sized leaves when brought back into much less light, so they will drop their leaves to grow smaller thinner ones. Also, let the top half almost dry out before watering. I learned the hard way with the other two I had. They also like to be a little root, too large a pot can keep them wet for too long, especially if the soil isn't well draining which is a must. As far as the ants, you can either change the soil, or if you can, drop the whole plant with it's pot into a larger container of tepid water, Make sure it's enough water to come up over the rim of the pot. Let it sit in the water for like 15 minutes or so, if there are any ants in the soil, they should come floating up to the surface, then you can just spill them out and replace any of the soil that was tossed out with the ants.
What Blue wing said! But seriously tho, the ants won't hurt much of anything. As a side bar, were the ants in soil, or on growing tips? Ants herd aphids. I'm wondering if the ants you saw weren't herding them. A mild insecticidal soap spray on leaves, or a strong spray of water will reduce aphids. repeat until ahpid herding ants find a better neighborhood.
Thanks so much for the replies. Snotty is a perfect word for this plant.. The littlest thing and it get's huffy... Yupp about the watering.. I let it dry out a lot before I water it.. except when it's outside of course with the rain.. but it doesn't seem to mind the rain at all.. we had a wet summer one time and no problems with it.. I tend to water it with rain water, I have a rain barrel and it likes it.. Finicky thing...
I hate to tell you this, but even a draft will cause it to drop its leaves. They are snotty! i don't have one now and will never have one again. they are just too much fussing for me.
My Mom gave me this one, but I would never buy one of these.. No way. Actually I put it outside early this year because of the ants and it was warm enough at that time.. Well it got quite chilly and I knew I should have brought her in, but I figured she is so darn finicky she will drop leaves just from the change in location.. So I left her out there and it was in the low 40s one night and I think it even went down to the high 30's ... it didn't freeze though.. tee hee... now some of her leaves got brown on the edges.. she will buck up I hope... she has to toughen up to live with me... I have had her for 3 years now.. she's a trooper.
I agree whole heartedly!!! just buck up and shut up. GROW, GROW, GROW!!!!! NO complaints, nothin' Got it? LOL. I do understand it coming from your mom and you want to keep it, though. So good luck just because it was your moms.
This topic is funny. My two BIG Ficus trees are snotty too! HaHa I wish I lived somewhere that they could just stay outdoors all the time, I love having them out, they thrive out there... but I do have to use a systemic insecticide because they have a history of getting scale insects , and I loath those awful things! I am counting the days, and watching the weather forecast for the lows at night to get consistently warm enough for the trees to go out the door for their summer vacation!! I also prune them liberally, as they grow like crazy.
